Bulletin for Sunday, May 23, 2021

Riverside

I’m gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside

I’m gonna study more, no more
I’m gonna study more, no more
I’m gonna study more, no more

I’m gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down my guns and steel
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside

I’m gonna study more, no more
I’m gonna study more, no more
I’m gonna study more, no more
(repeat)

I won’t study war
I won’t study war
I won’t study war
I won’t study war

I’m gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside

Farther Along

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man dies, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of rope
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen
Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
Some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ the line back home
There’s so much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down to the river and let it run
Wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

But still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
I’ve got no place left go
‘Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
It’s more glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on
Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levees and my bluff
Let the flood wash me
And one day when the sky rolls back on us
And some rejoice and the others fuss
‘Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
The Son of God is forever blessed
His is the kingdom and we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing “Lord, come soon”

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
So cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

House of God Forever

God is my shepherd
I won’t be wanting, I won’t be wanting
He makes me rest
In fields of green, with quiet streams
Even though I walk
Through the valley, of death and dying
I will not fear
‘Cause You are with me, You are with me

Your shepherd’s staff comforts me
You are my feast in the presence of enemies
Surely goodness will follow me, follow me
In the house of God forever

Christ Be All Around Me

As I rise, strength of God
Go before, lift me up
As I wake, eyes of God
Look upon, be my sight

As I wait, heart of God
Satisfy and sustain
As I hear, voice of God
Lead me on, be my guide
Be my guide

Above and below me
Before and behind me
In every eye that sees me
Christ be all around me

As I go, Hand of God
My defense, by my side
And as I rest, breath of God
Fall upon, bring me peace
Bring me peace

Above and below me
Before and behind me
In every eye that sees me
Christ be all around me

Oh oh, oh oh
Christ be all around me
Oh oh, oh oh
Christ be all around me

Your life, Your death
Your blood was shed
For every moment
Every moment
(repeat)

Above and below me
Before and behind me
In every eye that sees me
Christ be all around me

Oh oh, oh oh
Christ be all around me
Oh oh, oh oh
Christ be all around me

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

12 Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

– – – – – – – – – –

Reader: The word of the Lord.
Ekklesia: Thanks be to God.

“It is not the things which I do not understand in the Bible which trouble me, but the things which I do understand.” — Mark Twain

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“Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Mark 12:31

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“Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her.” — Ephesians 5:25

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“To whom much is given, much will be required.” — Luke 12:48

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“The Lord will not give you more than you can bear.” — 1 Cor 10:13 (ish)

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IT IS OFTEN SAID AT WEDDINGS that “love is what brings us together.” As true as those words are at a wedding, I believe they are even more true at a funeral. Because, you see, at a wedding, it really isn’t love that brings people together, it is the hope for love that is yet to be fully found and lived. It is an unknowing love; a mere fraction of the love yet to be discovered.
BUT TODAY, IT ISN’T ABOUT the hope for love that brings us here. It’s about love that has already been found and lived and shared and given in a thousand different ways. And so, more than perhaps any other reason for gathering, it is indeed, love that brings us together.

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“I see a therapist. It helps me. Sometimes I mention this in passing in a sermon on a Sunday morning. This morning I met for coffee with a young woman new to church who wanted, in part, to thank me for “normalizing mental health” … for not hiding my need for help. She’s 31 and has been in church her whole life, yet this was a first for her – to hear mental health normalized from the pulpit. I’m glad this is beginning to change in the larger church, that the stigma of mental health issues is being stripped away.”

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God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. — 1 Cor 10:13

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“No, el perro es no amarillo.”
(No, the dog is not yellow)

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I sing / We sing / You sing / They sing

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Canto — Cantamos — Cantas — Cantan
I sing — We sing — You sing — They sing

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“Canto muy bien.”
(I sing very well.)

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ὑπὲρ ὃ δύνασθε
huPER ho DUNasthe
beyond  what  able/power

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beyond what y’all are able together
beyond what power y’all possess together

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“Driving is safe, and traffic will never give you more than you can handle. There will always be a safe route of escape, and your car will be unharmed.”

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“Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’” — Exodus 32:6

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“And that day about three thousand of the people died.” — Exodus 32:28

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“They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.” — Psalm 78:18

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“We should not test Christ, as some of them did.” — 1 Cor 10:9

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“But how does [verse] 10:13 fit into this discussion? … The best explanation is that Paul is contrasting the “testing” that God allows to come to us (v. 13) with the very different dangers associated with our “testing” of God (v. 9). God provides a “way out” for those who are “overtaken” by the trials that all flesh is heir to. But those who put themselves in jeopardy by participating in idolatry are in a very different position and should not presume to have any guarantees of safety or salvation.” — Richard B. Hays

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“Let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.” — 1 Cor 10:12

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Hurricane

I see the world
Breaking and falling apart
And I don’t know what to do with it
What to do with it

I see hate
Building up all of the walls
Turns family into enemy
What do we do with it?

I see Love rising like a hurricane
Rising like a dead man coming up out of the grave
I feel Love rising in my chest again
Rising like a burning sun into the day

I see a world
Aching and longing to be
All of it’s wars over and gone
In peace finally

In every heart
This is where all of this starts
You and I and our differences
And what we do with it

I see Love rising like a hurricane
Rising like a dead man coming up out of the grave
I feel Love rising in my chest again
Rising like a burning sun into the day
(repeat)

I see Love rising like a hurricane
Rising like a dead man coming up out of the grave
I feel Love rising in my chest again
Rising like a burning sun into the day
(repeat)

Brother

When I look into the face
Of my enemy
I see my brother
I see my brother

When I look into the face
Of my enemy
I see my brother
I see my brother

Forgiveness is the garment of our courage
The power to make the peace we long to know
Open up our eyes to see the wounds that bind
All of humankind
May our shuttered hearts greet the dawn of life
With charity and love